Jon Lang, 54, was held for trial Thursday in the death of his wife, Debbie, in June 1993.

A witness, who was 16 at the time, came forward earlier this year and testified that Lang held his wife under the water at their Patterson Township home in June 1993.

The witness, identified as Jamie Darlington, said he pretended to be asleep when Jon Lang came back from the pool, but Lang told him, “You didn’t see anything. You didn’t hear nothing.”

That, Darlington said, frightened him into nearly 20 years of silence.

“Well, I think his testimony is preposterous, but I'll go into those details at trial,” said defense attorney Bill Diffenderfer.

Lang’s defense claims Darlington’s own troubles with the law -- he was facing burglary charges in California when he came forward -- led him to make up a story to cut a deal.

“Well, come on. He doesn't tell anybody for what, how many years? It's very obvious he’s very familiar with the criminal justice system. It's extremely obvious that he is not afraid at all of anybody. And his assertions that he held this back because of fear of whatever is ridiculous,” said Diffenderfer.

But Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh said there was other evidence gathered during the two decades since Debbie Lang’s death that will be presented at trial.

“Anybody that thinks that that's the only evidence that we have is making a big, big mistake. We just presented enough to get it bound over,” said Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh.

Investigators said there had been a party at the Langs’ home the night of Debbie Lang’s death and that her body had been in the water for several hours before it was recovered.

In November, a coroner’s jury ruled her death was not accidental after Darlington came forward.